Welcome to the first of two Claymore messenger bag reviews from the Pike family. I’ve been carrying this week for some time and only quit recently to transfer to the Tactical Tailor Concealed carry bag. My wife is now taking the bag over and plans to give a woman’s perspective on it. The Claymore as a bag is quite nice. The Wax canvas is quite strong and resident to the world around it. The proved to be quite water-resistant, I know this because I spilled an entire bottle of water on it, with my laptop inside it. I don’t suggest doing this, but my laptop was still bone dry.
Size matters
The Claymore messenger bag is quite big. I was genuinely impressed at how I could just keep filling it and filling it. I carry quite a bit as a writer, father, and husband. I’m in charge of doing a lot of random stuff. Day to-day it varies, but it’s nice being capable of tossing a pile of junk in and hitting the road.
On average I carried my mini 11.6 inch Chromebook, a portable speaker, the AMK trauma kit, laptop charger, and more. Instead of listing it all I’ll just include a picture. Although what is missing from the picture is my Nalgene bottle which goes everywhere with me. There isn’t really any internal padding, so I wrap my laptop up in a case to protect it.
The Claymore Messenger Bag
It’s getting close to the holidays, and traveling has ratcheted up considerably for me. This bag has served as an overnight bag, a business travel bag, gym bag, and even a range bag at one point. It’s quite versatile. It’s been dropped, tossed and thrown and looks almost brand new. It is a little dirtier, but no worse for wear. The internal MOLLE lets me configure the bag in a variety of different ways. I haven’t used this too much, but I could store four AR mags with ease in pouches.
The two external pouches are filled with hook and ladder, aka velcro. This allows for some increased customization and easy organization. These smaller pouches are still quite wide easily accessible. The Claymore comes with two accessory pouches that are pretty handy, either will hold a good-sized flashlight, a tourniquet, one will hold a Colt SMG or Glock extended magazine easily. I used mine to attach a Blue Force Gear Dapper magazine pouch to carry an extra magazine for my everyday carry, and a spare pocket knife because I forget mine frequently.
Man Purse Pride?
Call it a man purse if you want, but it is easily the manliest of purses. This thing is modeled after something that carries an antipersonnel mine that is C4 combined with a shotgun. It’s named after the kind of sword a Scot would swing into an Englishmen.
That’s kind of one of the cooler features of this thing. The days are gone when police and military were the one’s carrying MOLLE strapped bags. Back in the day you could always spot another guy in the know by it. Those days are gone. This bag kind of bring its back. It’s military appearance is still there, but it’s subdued. Only people who know what the bag was designed for originally will know what the bag is. A few crusty vets spotted me carrying the Claymore messenger bag and had to ask about it.
Gripes?
I get that it is modeled after the M7 bandoleer bag, but I would love a handle stitched across the top. Sometimes I don’t need to sling the bag, and just need to tote it from place to place. The black wax canvas material is also an attractant for dirt and debris and you need a lint roller to clean it.
Carry On
The Claymore Messenger bag is quite nice, it’s an excellent bag for everything from everyday carry to an overnight trip. You can pack quite a bit, and I am going to miss the bag as my wife takes it over. If you are looking for something stylish, simple, and handy you can’t go wrong with its simplicity and size.
